Chris Jordan

Monday, September 12, 2011

Stephen Moore (Lancashire) - Beautifully timed unbeaten 169 (off 230 balls) to set up Lancashire's pre-lunch declaration on the final day of their must-win game against Hampshire.

Ian Westwood (Warwickshire) - Solid 171 laid the foundations for victory over Nottinghamshire as Warwickshire took the top spot in Division 1 for the first time this season.

Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire) - The lone star for last year's champions with 72 (out of 238) before carrying his bat for 106 (out of 222) in the innings defeat to rampaging Warwickshire.

Joe Denly (Kent) - On a week where opening batsman shined, the newly resurgent Denly's career best 199 and second innings 68 were still not enough to save Kent from defeat against Derbyshire.

Jim Troughton (Warwickshire) - The skipper picked an opportune time to score his first Championship ton for 25 months to pip the likes of Zander de Bruyn and Will Durston for a spot in this week's XI.

Sean Ervine (Hampshire) - Nearly denied Lancashire with an uncharacteristically watchful three hour vigil for a first-innings 128 and also picked up three wickets.

John Simpson (Middlesex) - The promising wicketkeeper-batsman impressed again with 95 in Middlesex's rain affected encounter with Glamorgan.

Rikki Clarke (Warwickshire) - Took his season's tally to 45 wickets, but it was his barnstorming 126 (from just 101 balls) that caught the eye at Edgbaston and nearly ruined our casserole.

Ryan Sidebottom (Yorkshire) - Ensured Yorkshire at least went down fighting and ended their disappointing season with a win by taking 11 for 98 - including a second innings seven for 37 - against Somerset.

Simon Kerrigan (Lancashire) - It may not have been Old Trafford, but Kerrigan's convincing take on Jim Laker kept Lancashire in the title hunt at Liverpool. The final wicket of his nine for 51 (and match haul of 12 wickets) came just in the nick of time.

David Balcombe (Kent) - The on-loan paceman took his tally to 33 wickets in just five matches with nine against Derbyshire.

12th man: Chris Jordan (Surrey) - We don't normally select a 12th man, but we'll make an exception this week. Jordan hit two career bests with the bat - following up his 1st innings 71 with an unbeaten 79 second time around. He then got a career best with the ball too as Surrey's promotion charge gathered further momentum.

Thursday, April 07, 2011

Finishing seventh last summer would have come as a severe disappointment after heavy investment the previous winter. Surrey have again welcomed several new recruits for 2011 in Tom Maynard, Yasir Arafat, Kevin Pietersen and Zander de Bruyn so will the forthcoming summer see an upturn in fortunes?

Strengths

A top six comprising Mark Ramprakash, Pietersen, de Bruyn, the immensely promising Jason Roy, Steven Davies and head prefect Rory Hamilton-Brown looks impressive, although Surrey fans shouldn’t expect to see too much of KP.

The bowling looks good too with Chris Tremlett, Yasir Arafat, Jade Dernbach, Gareth Batty and Stuart Meaker plus having Chris Jordan back from injury will be like having another new player.

Weaknesses

Can this collection of individuals be gelled into a team? Tremlett, Pietersen and possibly Davies and Dernbach are likely to miss several games due to international duty.

Main man

If his back holds up expect the imperious Mark Ramprakash to continue his astonishing exploits with the bat. Enjoy it whilst you can, because even this evergreen 41 year old cannot go on much longer. Surely?

Look out for…

KP getting lost en route from Chelsea to The Oval and heaven forbid if he has to get to Guildford – that’s nearly in Hampshire!

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